


A Brush with Death

by okapifeathers (giratinas)



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Denial, F/F, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 07:04:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16445117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giratinas/pseuds/okapifeathers
Summary: In which Kokoro attempts to wingman for Sayo, and Sayo attempts to survive the encounter.





	A Brush with Death

**Author's Note:**

> a fun, quick, and messy oneshot written for a mission in Bandori's Party's battle of the bands. the challenge was to make characters who rarely interact, well, interact. so take this.
> 
> unedited, please don't mind any mistakes you find.

Sayo was at the Hazawa cafe to drink tea and eat cake and for no other reason. Absolutely no other reason at all.

She just happened to be passing by, of course, while she was out for a stroll, and a sudden craving for strawberry cheesecake washed over her. Much like the rain had done as she stood outside near the window, barely keeping a solid grasp on the handle of her umbrella as she most certainly did not do a double take at the sight of a certain someone’s tidy and perfect brown head of hair.

She just figured that hey, maybe she was hungry, and it was wet and cold outside. It made sense to take shelter as quickly as possible and find something edible at the same time.

It was a bit of a shame that she was seated by the new employee - who she had never met before - rather than someone she might already be familiar with. Like perhaps Eve, or… well, it didn’t matter anyway. She was only there to order food after all.

It was warm inside and she had a booth all to herself, despite the cafe being a little bit packed thanks to the weather. She stirred a packet of sugar into her tea and tried to let her mind wander back to Roselia’s most recent practice session. She’d flubbed a note right in the middle of Heroic Advent, which was absolutely mortifying, because surely everyone else would have noticed immediately and called her out on it. But… nobody said anything to her, except for Yukina who told her to keep up her practice at home and not to let her insecurities get in the way.

Insecurities - that was a scary word, mostly because it was true. Hina was a living, breathing reminder of that and they had to eat breakfast across from each other every morning. Roselia itself also perpetuated the unsettling feeling that came with insecurity by extension, although that was a different sort of beast. There wasn’t much that didn’t make her at least a little bit anxious these days, though she would never admit that to anyone, and she knew she could barely admit that to herself.

The things in her life that saved her from the negativity were few and far between. Music was one of those things, and she could throw herself into that without thinking twice. Her newest development was a fondness for baking, whether or not she was good at it. Well, that was partially a lie. What she  _ really _ enjoyed was the company…

“Hi Sayo, why are you staring at Tsugumi?”

Sayo’s neck whipped around so fast she heard it crack and her knee jerked up in surprise, slamming against the underside of the table. The  _ thunk _ she made drew some stares, but that wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as the person who was now sitting across from her in the booth.

“Tsu-Tsurumaki-san?” Sayo stuttered out, acutely aware of the crack in her voice. 

Kokoro tilted her head curiously.

“I  _ was not _ staring at Tsugu- ah, Hazawa-san. I was not staring at anyone.”

“But you were, for a long time. Did you need to ask her something?”

She hadn’t been staring. Had she? She was just… thinking. But what if she had been? How long was she ogling? Was it obvious? Did Tsugumi notice?

Sayo breathed out through her nose and ignored the throb of her knee. She had to stay cool. Calm and collected, well put together.

“A long time?” She asked, voice steady.

Kokoro nodded vigorously. “Yeah, ever since you put that sugar in your tea. Did you want more? I’ll ask for you!”

Before Sayo could stop her, Kokoro had already thrown both of her arms in the air and shouted Tsugumi’s name, all the way across the cafe. 

“Hey hey! Tsugumi, Sayo needs more sugar!”

“I don’t- I don’t need more. I don’t need more sugar.” Sayo tried her best to raise her voice just enough for Tsugumi to get the message, but it came out as barely more than a croak. 

Tsugumi, clad in her apron and a smile sweeter than anything Sayo could ever stir into her tea, had already spun around and plucked a selection of sugars from another table. 

“I’ll be right there, Kokoro-chan!”

Kokoro turned back to Sayo, stupid grin plastered across her face. The pom poms attached to her hat swung around and Sayo suddenly felt like she wanted to cut them off.

“ _ What. _ Are you doing here. In this booth.” Sayo ground out. The line had already been crossed. She knew Kokoro had no boundaries to speak of. This was a dangerous situation, and it would only get worse if she got the wrong idea.

“Oh, I’m supposed to meet Misaki across the street in half an hour, but I came in to say hi to Eve first. And then I saw you were sitting all alone! So I’m here to keep you company.”

Sayo was about to tell her to leave when Tsugumi’s hand slid into view, along with the requested sugar.

“Sayo-san, Kokoro-chan!” She greeted them. “It’s nice to see you both! I’m surprised you’re here together.”

“We are not here together.” Sayo did her best to remain composed. “I came here alone.”

“Oh! Well, that’s fine too, I guess?” Tsugumi looked a little lost at that, and Sayo just wanted to leave. 

“Thanks for the sugar, Tsugumi!” Kokoro grinned and pulled out a few packets, tucking them neatly against the warm cup on Sayo’s plate. 

“Of course! If you need anything else, just ask. Eve is here today too, we’re really busy. I’ve gotta get back to work now.”

Kokoro gave her a cheerful wave, and then Tsugumi vanished back into the maze of tables and customers. 

Sayo pushed her cup away and started gathering her things, fully intending to make her escape. Coming here was a stupid idea to begin with and she was well beyond being able to fool herself any longer. 

“So how come your face is all red? You got real tense for a sec.” Kokoro’s fingers tapped the table lightly as she rested her chin in her other hand. 

“It is not red.” Sayo lied as she felt the burning in her cheeks. “I’m leaving.”

“You’re like Misaki.” Kokoro said to her, still smiling. “She likes to leave when she doesn’t want to do something too, even if it’s something she needs to do.”

Sayo ignored her. “I don’t know why you felt the need to sit here but please don’t do it again.”

She stood and Kokoro’s eyes followed her. 

“You just looked so sad. You should tell Tsugumi you like her, you know?”

Sayo felt her stomach twist and her knees go weak. 

“Shut up.”

This entire situation was preposterous. How could Kokoro, of all people, possibly have noticed? She was so careful, even avoiding using Tsugumi’s first name intentionally whenever they spoke. Someone else had to have figured it out, and then gossip had found its way to the worst possible person next to Tsugumi herself.

Sayo sat back down. She had to get to the bottom of this.

“How did you know? Who told you?” She whispered harshly across the table.

“You did, right now.” Kokoro told her.

Sayo wanted to scream.

“Really, you shouldn’t be so shy. What if you miss out? You just gotta tell her, it’s easy!”

The urge to physically stop Kokoro from speaking another word grew stronger with every syllable.

“Absolutely not. It’s impossible. I’m leaving and we’re both going to forget this ever happened.”

Kokoro sighed, which was weird. This whole conversation was weird. 

“Everyone is so confusing,” Kokoro went on as she twirled her hair around a finger, “wouldn’t Tsugumi want to know if you do or not? I know I would if I was her. Then everything would be so much easier, and you wouldn’t look so sad anymore.”

“I don’t look sad.” Sayo snapped, not even believing herself. If she really had been staring so blatantly at Tsugumi… alright, so maybe she was a little disappointed. Moreso in herself than anything else, because there was no way someone as soft and graceful as Tsugumi could ever take any interest in her. Sayo was too hard. Too driven. 

“You do.” Kokoro argued back. “We gotta turn your frown upside down!”

_ I’ll turn you upside down _ , Sayo thought to herself.

And then everything took a turn for the worse, somehow, when Kokoro raised her arm and opened her big, loud mouth.

“Hey, Tsugumi!” She called across the cafe again, heads turning to look at her. “Can you come here a sec?”

Before Sayo could even consider what to do with herself, Tsugumi was there at the end of the table and the heat in her cheeks bloomed exponentially. 

“What can I help you with?” Tsugumi gave them both a cheerful smile and Sayo nearly melted into the seat.

Kokoro looked back and forth between them, clearly thrilled with whatever idea she’d concocted. 

“Do you want to go to a movie with Sayo? When are you free?”

Sayo’s mouth opened but nothing came out, and Tsugumi looked… something. Surprised? Confused?

“Tsurumaki-san.” Sayo finally squeaked out, but Tsugumi clearly didn’t hear her and if Kokoro did, she wasn’t listening anyway.

“Ah, hm.” Tsugumi tapped her chin. “I didn’t know you wanted to see something, Sayo-san! I’m really busy with work this week, but maybe we can talk about it later?”

“I-I. Well. Later.” 

“As long as it’s not a horror movie then I’m okay with anything. I really have to get to work though, but please text me later, alright?”

Sayo could only nod dumbly before Tsugumi left and she realized she’d just gone along with Kokoro’s stupid idea because she couldn’t keep herself together around a  _ girl _ . How embarrassing.

“You did it!” Kokoro pumped her fist. “See, easy!”

Sayo’s hands both balled into fists as she struggled to keep her composure.

“Yes. Great. You’ve just put me in a very awkward position, Tsurumaki-san. I don’t have any interest in seeing a movie and I would really prefer if you didn’t meddle in my… relationships. Platonic or not.”

Honestly, the nerve. Kokoro reminded her more and more of Hina with each passing second.

“It doesn’t matter if you wanna see a movie or not. Isn’t Tsugumi the more important thing?”

“What do you mean?”

Sayo wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand sitting there in the booth. But she had to know.

“What matters is that you just get a chance to tell her. Movies are just sitting in the dark for a long time so you have a lot of time to think about how to do it. Then the movie ends and you can just say it, just like that.” Kokoro explained to her matter-of-factly.

Absolutely ludicrous.

“That never works. That isn’t how this is going to go, nobody just outright confesses and has it work out, happily ever after. You have to work for what you want.”

Kokoro shrugged. “I just said it and then it worked. Everyone should just do that!”

Sayo glared at her. “Yes, I was there when you so eloquently confessed to Okusawa-san. So was everyone else at Hanajo, because you did it in the middle of the day in the courtyard and yelled it at her from twenty feet away. She was so embarrassed she had to go home for the rest of the afternoon.”

Even Sayo herself had been embarrassed just watching it happen. She was never going to forget the sound Misaki had made as her palm connected with her forehead while everyone watched.

“But now we’re dating. So it definitely worked.”

Technically she wasn’t wrong. 

But that didn’t make her right. Right?

“Your strategy could have easily backfired. Don’t you see that? You could have been even more embarrassed than Okusawa-san was, in front of everyone else.”

“Oh,” Kokoro raised her eyebrows, “So you’re scared she’s gonna say no? You always look so determined when you’re playing on stage in front of hundreds of people but you’re scared a girl doesn’t like you?”

“That’s not the same-”

“You should never be embarrassed about how you feel. It’s good to like someone so much, because that’s how you know they make you happy. Even if she says no you can still be good friends.” Kokoro smiled at her. 

Sayo didn’t even know why she was entertaining Kokoro’s words at this point. It would be way easier if she just did nothing and pretended she didn’t feel anything at all, like usual. Then she wouldn’t have to hear the word ‘no’ from anyone.

“I would like to keep it to myself. Perhaps if I wait long enough, the feeling will pass and I’ll be able to focus again.” Sayo responded, more to herself than to Kokoro. Anything to feel a little more okay about her current predicament. 

“You’re weird,” Kokoro told her, ironically. “Don’t you want her to know?”

“No.”

Of course she did. But she was also realistic. Not afraid, just… realistic.

Sayo flinched as she witnessed Kokoro raise her arm once again, she could already hear Tsugumi’s name on the girl’s lips as she opened her mouth and-

The cafe door slammed open, bell above it jingling wildly as a wet and dishevelled Misaki threw herself inside. She jammed her umbrella in the bucket and stalked past the tables and around the other patrons.

Tsugumi’s name never came from Kokoro’s lips, replaced instead by Sayo’s saving grace.

“Misaki! It’s you!”

“It’s me.” She rolled her eyes as she came to stand at the head of the table, breathing heavy and still dripping wet.

Misaki gave Sayo a look of sympathy.

“I’m sorry about her. When I heard she was talking to you I ran here as fast as I could.” She patted Kokoro’s head and Sayo couldn’t tell if she was upset with her blonde sidekick or not.

Kokoro leaned into her hand. “So that’s why you’re here early.”

Sayo blinked and looked between them. 

“Okusawa-san, how did you know we were even here? Not that I’m complaining you’re here to stop her incessant badgering.”

“Aoba-san sent me a text.” Misaki told her, as if that explained anything at all.

“Aoba-san?”

A mess of white-grey hair popped up behind Kokoro, leaning over from the booth on the other side of them. Moca slumped lazily across the divider and gave the group a wry smile.

“Moca-chan heard eeeverything. Don’t worry, she won’t tell a soul, not even Tsugu. Not today, at least.”

There was nothing left for Sayo to do but put her face in her hands and consider how she was going to avoid Tsugumi for the rest of her life henceforth. She was truly doomed now, there was no way to redeem this conversation or even her friendship with Tsugumi. Everything was ruined.

She peeked around her hands to catch Misaki flicking Kokoro’s forehead.

“Hey dummy, you forgot your umbrella. I didn’t see it by the door.”

Kokoro swatted her hand away. “We can just use yours. But we can’t leave until we help Sayo!”

“We definitely can, come on. I think you’ve tormented her enough.”

Misaki all but pulled Kokoro from her seat by the arm and sent her to wait by the door. Her protests went ignored and she dragged her feet across the cafe, turning to flash a big, obnoxious thumbs up in Sayo’s direction.

“How do you do it, Okusawa-san?” She couldn’t help but ask. Kokoro was intolerable.

“If I knew then I would tell you.”

“That’s a good question.” Moca’s smooth voice drifted between them. “Moca-chan would go insane. How embarrassing it’s been for Hikawa-san…”

“Do not mock me.” Sayo managed to get out. She was very much done with this entire day, and she stared at Moca until the offending girl shrugged and slunk back into her own booth.

Misaki laughed a little, still standing at the head of the table. 

“Aoba-san was sending me most of your conversation.”

“Just what I wanted.” Sayo grumbled. “For more people to know.”

“I’m sure you know you don’t have to worry about me saying anything to anyone. I’m pretty quiet. But…” Misaki paused for a moment, as if she were trying to come up with something to say.

“But?” Sayo prodded. Misaki was a sensible person. Maybe she would understand the kind of advice Sayo actually valued.

“Kokoro  _ is _ right. I was really embarrassed when she, uh, did  _ that _ . I even considered changing my name and leaving Japan altogether.”

“You aren’t helping.” Sayo crossed her arms and looked down at her lap.

Misaki raised her hands. “I’m getting there. Look, I know she says some stupid sounding things and she’s practically a different species, but I’m well versed in Kokoro language and I just want to tell you what she was actually trying to get across.”

“You have questionable taste, Okusawa-san.”

“Tell me about it. I mean it though.” Misaki’s voice lowered. “She’s just trying to tell you to be more honest with yourself. That’s all.”

Sayo’s brow furrowed.

“Honest?”

Misaki nodded at her. “It’s a good first step. That’s how I ended up… like this.” She gestured in Kokoro’s general direction.

“I’m sure it looks crazy to you but I promise I’m a lot happier for it. It gets easier when you don’t lie to yourself about what you want.”

Sayo mulled over her words carefully. Most of her apprehension came from self-doubt, like almost every other problem she had in her life. If that doubt didn’t exist, then maybe it  _ could _ work out. Or maybe it wouldn’t. She just knew she had a long way to go.

“Thank you, Okusawa-san.” She found herself saying, without really thinking.

“Hey, this is Kokoro’s wisdom, not mine. God, I can’t believe I just said that.” Misaki slouched a little.

Kokoro appeared suddenly on her arm. 

“Misakiii are we going or not?”

Sayo looked away from them, not wanting to provoke any more of Kokoro’s “wisdom”.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here before I regret existing.” Misaki agreed.

They wandered away together, and Sayo turned back towards them just in time to catch Misaki apologizing to Tsugumi as she shoved Kokoro out the door. The current nightmare was averted, but a new crisis immediately reached top velocity as Tsugumi turned away from them and looked directly at her as she made her way over to the booth.

Sayo could feel her palms start to sweat as Tsugumi slid into the seat across from her, untying her apron in the process.

“So,” Tsugumi started, “I don’t know what all that was about. Or, I kind of do. I might have heard a thing or two.”

Sayo’s heart clenched. This was exactly the reason she wanted to be alone. 

“What did you… hear?” she all but whispered.

Tsugumi was all smiles, gentle and kind as she always was. “Just enough. What movie do you want to see? I’m free on Sunday.”

She had to be kidding. Did she…? 

Alright, so maybe painful obviousness really was what Sayo needed. A little honesty could probably go a long way, too.

Sayo took a deep breath and looked Tsugumi directly in the eyes.

“Actually, I would prefer we… just go for a walk. The two of us. Together.”

Tsugumi giggled a little and nodded. “I think that sounds wonderful.”

Relief flooded Sayo as the dam finally burst and the growing doubts that she and Tsugumi could ever work out swiftly evaporated. It really was that easy, as much as she hated to admit it.

Kokoro was crazy and strange, but maybe this time she was kind of sort of right. But she was never, ever going to admit that.

Just then, Tsugumi reached across the table and took Sayo’s hand in her own. 

They were going to be alright.

Probably.


End file.
